Assuming the Mantle
by LoneWolf1968
Summary: Sequel to Desperate Decisions. Adding in BSG 2003 with a bit of a twist to who the Lords of Kobol might be.
1. Chapter 1

**This is the 2nd book in the saga following "Desperate Decisions". Please read that story before this one or you will be thoroughly confused.**

 **Recon Raptor**

 **Five jumps ahead of**

 **Colonial Remnant**

"Helo, what the frak was that? Did you get anything on DRADIS?" Sharon "Athena" Agathon asked her husband as the swirling energy vortex disappeared from view. Helo sat looking at his screen with a look of total shock.

"I got something but I'll be damned if I know what it was. I thought it was a ship at first but there was so much interference I couldn't get a clear reading. It's gone now and the DRADIS is clear." Athena wrinkled her brow before replying.

"Carl that was a ship. I saw it and you know my eyes are better than a normal humans. I saw it but I don't know who built it or what kind of ship it was. But nothing the Colonies or the Cylons have ever built looks even close to what I just saw. Let's get back to the fleet and report this to Admiral Adama."

Neither one of the couple had a clue they were being scanned by a probe they couldn't see or even suspect existed. It was the same stealth probe that Ganos Lal had launched just before the UEC _Phantom_ crossed dimensions. The probe continued to run sensor scans until the small scout ship disappeared in a bright flash of light.

The probe extended its sensors to maximum range and just picked up the ship reappearing in normal space at the far edge of its range, which was just under ten light years back toward the galactic core of the Sagittarius Dwarf galaxy. The normal sensor range for a class one stealth probe was five light years in all directions but the limited AI could extend it to ten light years in any given direction.

The sensitivity was greatly reduced but the energy signature of the FTL used by the Raptor registered even at that range. Once the probe confirmed the re-emergence of the scout ship into normal space, it sent a subspace message in a databurst back to UEC Fleet Headquarters before following the small scout ship at warp.

 **UEC Headquarters**

It had been a fairly uneventful shift for Walter Harriman. The UEC _Phantom_ had only been in the Federation reality for about an hour when the subspace array picked up a transmission from the stealth probe left in the Sagittarius galaxy. As Walter scanned through the message, he froze and called Admiral O'Neill. "Admiral, sorry I had to wake you but you really need to see the transmission we just received." He could hear a low moan from the Admiral.

"Alright Walter, I'm on my way." Fifteen minutes later Admiral O'Neill entered the Command Center. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. The instant he scanned through the transmission that all changed. "Walter, get me Captain Barrett on the _Magellan_ immediately." After a short conversation with Admiral O'Neill, the Tactical Exploration Cruiser _Magellan_ jumped into hyperspace in route to the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy.

 **Outer Edge of the**

 **Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy**

The _Magellan_ dropped out of hyperspace outside of the outer edge of the Sagittarius Galaxy before cloaking and continuing on at high warp. Captain Barrett ordered full sensor scans as they came within range of the system the _Phantom_ had detected the small ship in.

Captain Barrett stood from his command chair and made his way over to his tactical officer. "Helm, drop us out of warp when we enter the system. Ok, Charlie, what are we looking at?" Captain Barrett asked as he approached his second in command, Commander Charles Sanders.

"Well Captain, I have tapped into the probes and can replay what its sensors recorded. Also our sensors are many magnitudes stronger and more sensitive than the probes." He indicated the readings before continuing.

"It was definitely a small scout ship of some kind using a poorly reverse engineered wormhole drive. At least the readings are consistent with that type of drive." A beeping drew his attention back to his console.

"Captain, the probe has just dropped out of warp and is detecting a large fleet of various sized ships." He rechecked his readings. "The fleet is just over fifty light years from our current position." He continued to study his console with the captain standing by his side.

"Ok, this is a bit odd. I am reading what looks like battle damage to several of the ships to include one that I would classify as a dreadnaught by its size."

Captain Barrett walked back to his chair thinking. "Can you determine their scan range Charlie?"

After a few seconds studying the readings he looks up toward his captain. "From their energy emissions I believe I can Captain. From the readings the probe got earlier and the readings I am getting now, I would say their long range scanners reach no more than ten light years maximum."

Captain Barrett thought for a bit longer. "Helm, drop the cloak and take us closer in hyperspace. Drop out and recloak at the fifteen light year mark then continue at maximum warp until we are within one light year." An "Aye, aye Sir." Came from the helm and the sleek starship dropped its cloak and opened a hyperspace window.

A few short minutes later, the _Magellan_ dropped out of hyperspace and immediately cloaked and jumped to warp. The UEC had still not found a way to cloak in hyperspace yet. Commander Sanders continued to monitor the sensors as the UEC ship approached the rag tag fleet. At one light year from the fleet, the _Magellan_ dropped out of warp and changed course immediately in case the transition from warp to impulse might have been detected. As it turned out, the transition was detected but not understood.

 **Flashback to the return**

 **Of the Recon Raptor**

"Are you sure it was a ship?" Admiral Adama asked Sharon. "Yes Sir, I know what I saw. It was a ship approximately three hundred and sixty to three hundred and eighty meters long, two long struts extending to the rear with this strange looking cylinder on each strut. I assume those were its engines. It also had a flat, triangular head on the front, and was maybe fifty to eighty meters thick. It was distorted by whatever that energy phenomenon we detected was so I can't be more accurate on its size."

Adama was thoughtful but his thoughts were interrupted by his boisterous "adopted" daughter. "What kind of frakking design is that for a ship? Are you sure the radiation from whatever the thing was didn't scramble your processors?"

Sharon remained calm but it was Carl that came unglued and made a move toward Kara "Starbuck" Thrace. "What the frak does that mean Kara? You know as well as any of us that Sharon is on our side! Why are you still making frakking wise cracks like that at her?!"

Lee "Apollo" Adama moved in to intercept Helo before he can get to Starbuck. "Calm down Helo, we've all been stressed over the last few weeks. The Cylons have us pinned at the edge of the galaxy and the Gods only know why they haven't finished us off! Let it go, she didn't mean it!"

Starbuck's normal blustery attitude crumbled. "You're right Lee, I'm sorry Sharon. I just need some sleep or maybe a good lay." That comment broke the building tension in the room and everyone had a good laugh.

Little did anyone know that Lee's statement of the Gods being the only ones that knew why the Cylons hadn't attacked, was closer to the truth than anyone present ever suspected.

 **Fifty Light Years Further Core ward**

 **Cylon Command Fleet**

"What do you mean the hybrids won't jump the fleet to attack the humans? We have them trapped and finally have enough ships to finish them for good." A number one model named John was screaming. A number six and number three were trying to calm him down. "We don't know, the hybrids are making even less sense than normal. They keep saying the exact same thing over and over." Then the number six made an attempt to mimic the hybrid. "Jump not possible, God says it is not allowed." She shrugged her shoulders.

"So we tried to launch the heavy raiders and raiders but they just sit there in the bays not moving. Nothing is showing on any of their screens except total gibberish." John threw his hands up in the air. "I'm surrounded by idiots. Am I the only one around here that knows how to fix this?" With that he walked into the hybrid chamber, drew a pistol, and shot the hybrid in the head.

The basestar began shaking and model Ones on the other basestars did the same thing. Within an hour the fleet was ready to jump but the heavy raiders and raiders still refused to launch. "Well, we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way then." John said before he began tearing into the brain of the raider he had been trying to coax out of the bays.

Several Three's, Six's, Eight's, and a few Two's were standing to the side totally appalled at the actions of the One's, Four's, Five's and the remaining Two's as the latter began tearing out the brains of the raiders so they could be flown manually.

The basestars still wouldn't jump and John was furious. "Why won't the jumpdrives fire?!" He screamed. A Four model turns from a nearby console. "I don't know. All of the data shows there is nothing wrong with any of the drives. Something is keeping them from activating."

A Leoben (Two Model) stepped forward. "Maybe this is God's will. Maybe we aren't supposed to destroy them." John stepped forward and shot him. "I say kill them all. That is God's plan and we are going to carry it out."

With those parting words, the consoles lit up and Simon (the Four at the console) smiled. "All jumpdrives across the fleet just came on line. We can jump anytime you are ready." John turned with an evil grin. "Well? What are you waiting for? Jump the fleet and launch everything we've got the instant we complete the jump."

With that the fleet of ten Cylon basestars jumped away from the system to finish off the last remnants of humanity, or so they thought….

 **UEC** _ **Magellan**_

 **50,000 Kilometers from Colonial Fleet**

Commander Sanders was still running active scans of the ragged fleet. "Captain, I'm detecting very cramped and crowded conditions on those ships. Most of them have some kind of battle damage and the "dreadnaught" took quite a beating and scans show some of the damage is radioactive." While he was running the scans, he detected the Cylon fleet jumping in to attack. "Sir, I'm picking up another fleet of a different configuration fifty more light years toward the galactic core. They just jumped!"

The instant the Cylon fleet reappeared in the same system as the Colonial Fleet, they launched missiles and raiders.

 **Galactica CIC**

"DRADIS contact, ten Cylon basestars just jumped into the system! They're launching raiders and missiles!" Lieutenant Gaeta reported from the DRADIS station. Admiral Adama was just entering the CIC when he heard this. Colonel Tigh grabbed the "bullhorn". "Action stations, action stations. Set condition one throughout the ship. This is not a drill. Launch all _Vipers_ and combat _Raptors_." He refrained from calling the admiral to the CIC as he had noticed the Admiral Adama already entering.

Lt. Gaeta spoke up again. "Radiological alarm! More than half of those missiles are nukes!" This caused several crew members to gasp in terror and Colonel Tigh to visibly turn pale. He turned toward his commander and friend. "Bill, we can't stop that many nukes. This is it, they finally got us."

Admiral Adama remained his normal calm and stoic self. "Jump the civilians out. Move us between the basestars and them until they are all out. Prep a nuke of our own and set it for remote detonation. Have Strike Fighters and Vigilantes target the missiles. Have all other squadrons target raiders and heavy raiders. We have to buy as much time as we can for the civilians."

 **Bridge of the UEC** _ **Magellan**_

Captain Barrett was alerted that something was wrong by Commander Sander's voice. "Sir, the second fleet has launched fighters and missiles. Over half of the missiles are nuclear." Captain Barrett immediately began issuing orders. "Helm, move us in between the missiles and those ships. Bring the shields up to full power and power up the phasers. Target the missiles and go weapons free. Tie into their communications frequencies that the probe detected then signal those star looking ships and offer our services as mediators. Send a message to Admiral O'Neill and tell him what we are doing."

With those orders, the _Magellan_ dropped her cloak and surged forward with its CIWS (Close in Weapons System) phasers destroying every missile they touched. The CIWS was a new addition that Admiral Carter, Eli Wallace, and Doctor McKay had developed. It was a combination of different technologies from several cultures.

The CIWS was basically an up scaled plasma repeater based on the wrist repeaters used by the Kull Warriors. But instead of one barrel, it was a six barrel, rotating design, mounted on the retractable turrets like those used on _Destiny_. The rotating design was from the human designed Gatling guns of the 19th century, then later electrically powered and used in more modern warplanes like the A-10 Warthog that was so successful during Desert Storm.

But instead of one mount like the Warthog had, the _Magellan_ had forty, dual mounted turrets giving her a total of eighty weapons that gave her a full 360 degrees of coverage around the ship. They were mounted twenty on the ventral (lower) side and twenty on the dorsal (top) side, to both port (left) and starboard (right) of the ship. The helmsman had positioned the ship in the exact center of the oncoming wave of missiles so the forward twenty turrets were all that engaged. The aft portion were primed but not one missile made it passed the ship so they did not need to engage a stray shot.

 _ **Galactica**_ **CIC**

Lt. Gaeta looked up confused as multiple pilots could be heard saying something similar to what he was reporting. The pilots were also saying they could see windows on the unknown ship.

"Ummmm Admiral? You need to see this. Another ship just appeared on DRADIS and destroyed every missile in the first wave." Colonel Tigh looked up in shock. "A single ship destroyed all of them? Impossible!" Lt. Gaeta looked confused still. "I know Sir, but that is what just happened. The ship jumped in and fired what looks like some type of energy weapon that destroyed every single missile."

Now Colonel Tigh snorted. "Lieutenant are you sure you're not drunk? Energy weapons are purely theoretical and would require more power generation than the entire Colonial fleet could have produced!" Admiral Adama stepped over to see the DRADIS readout with his own eyes. "He's right Saul, there is another ship out there and the playback shows them destroying every missile with one volley. The power readouts from that little ship are off the charts."

About the same time, Lieutenant Dualla at communications picked up the transmission coming from the _Magellan_. "Admiral, that ship is signaling the Cylons and us." Adama signaled her to put it on the speakers.

 **Cylon Command Ship**

A model Eight was monitoring the DRADIS when the _Magellan_ decloaked and destroyed the first wave of missiles. "Cavil, another ship just appeared between us and the Colonials and destroyed the first wave of missiles." The model One known as Cavil was furious. "What? Then launch another wave and target that ship with the KEW (Kinetic Energy Weapon) and destroy it if it's that close!" The Eight looked around uncomfortably. "They are signaling us as well as the Colonials."

Cavil stormed forward pushing her out of his way. "I don't care if they are signaling God. I said target them with the KEW and destroy them!" He manually targeted the small ship on his own and fired every KEW that would lock on. The other basestars that were in range targeted the _Magellan_ as well and fired. They also launched a second wave of missiles with several targeting on the _Magellan_ as well. Several raiders turned toward the UEC ship and opened fire with both missiles and KEW's.

The _Magellan_ was based off of the same basic framework as the _Sovereign_ class heavy cruiser so by Colonial capital ship standards, she was a small ship. The crew in the CIC heard Starbuck's voice coming over the speakers. " _Galactica this is Starbuck. I'm taking Primus to cover that ship. If just one of those missiles makes it through their flak screen, she's finished. I see actual windows on the hull. Who the hell puts windows on a warship?"_

Before Primus squadron could even get close, a strange voice came over the speakers warning them off. " _Thanks for the offer Starbuck. But trust me when I say the Magellan can handle herself."_ As if to prove that point, Starbuck was totally mesmerized and shocked by what happened next. The KEW rounds from both the raiders and the basestars simply vanished as a bright glow flared just off of the hull of the strange ship. Then several nuclear missiles that were targeted at the ship as well as the entire second wave of missiles, vanished under the withering fire of the CIWS.

 **Bridge of the UEC** _ **Magellan**_

Captain Barrett sighed. "Why is it that there always has to be that asshole that just has to have a war? I offer mediation services and they shoot at us. Helm, prepare for evasive action. Charlie, target their weapons and take them out." The UEC vessel shot forward and made an impossible (by Colonial standards) turn while firing precise shots from the lateral and ventral phaser arrays.

 **Command Basestar**

"Energy shields? Where and how did they get energy shields?" A model Six asked. "What I want to know, is how does a ship that small, generate enough power for both energy weapons AND shields?" The Eight that had been monitoring DRADIS asked. Cavil had a suspicious look on his face. "I don't know but send some heavy raiders to capture it so we can have those for ourselves." He ordered. The model Two Leoben just shook his head. "We can't. The raiders can't even scan through the shield to find a safe place to jump into. It's useless to jump through to try and capture that ship if they can't jump through into a large enough area to survive." Cavil was furious again. "Well send the damn virus and disable the shields then!" He said as he shot Leoben again. Just then the ship shook hard and threw most of the human form Cylons to the floor. "What the frak was that?" Cavil asked as he pulled himself upright again. Eight pulled herself up cradling her left arm. "That ship just made a turn that should have crushed every being on it to pulp and fired another type of energy weapon at all ten of our ships. All missile tubes and most KEW cannon on all ships are disabled." If you thought Cavil was furious before, you were sadly mistaken as he shot every other human form Cylon in the room while screaming his hatred for all humans.

 **Bridge of the** _ **Magellan**_

"Captain, I'm reading an attempt to download a virus into our computer systems. Firewalls and IC (Intrusion Counter-measure) Programs are shutting it down and isolating it into a shielded drive for further study." Again Captain Barrett just sighed and shook his head. "I try, God knows I try. But some people just beg to be killed. Charlie, the gloves come off now. Weapons free on all weapons. Take everything that shot at us out of my stars."

He then nodded at his communications officer who nodded back indicating that coms were activated. "Unknown vessels, I offered our services as mediators in this conflict and not only do you shoot at us but you try to download a computer virus into my computers. I gave you a chance at peace and you spat in my face. My patience is at an end, good-bye."

As he finished his statement, he made a slashing motion across his throat in the classic signal to cut communications. Then the _Magellan_ surged forward opening up with every weapon at her disposal. Heavy Pulse Cannon, CIWS, phaser arrays, Quantum drones, and Asgard plasma beams lashed out in a display of firepower that truly frightened the Colonials watching.

Not only did the basestars shudder and begin to explode but the raiders and heavy raiders were the targets of the CWIS and phaser arrays. Surviving quantum drones also turned to target any remaining raiders that weren't able to jump away. Many Sixes, Threes, Eights, and most Twos shared a look with each other before they were destroyed to be downloaded to a resurrection hub several light years away. The subspace transmission of so many minds was detected by the communications officer on the _Magellan_.

 **CIC of the** _ **Galactica**_

It was dead silent in the CIC of the _Galactica._ Everyone was staring at Lt. Gaeta who had just blurted out that his DRADIS had completely whited out from the firepower of the unknown ship as it single handedly destroyed the entire Cylon attack fleet. Then the speakers began spewing screams of joy and shouts of celebration confirming what the stunned Lieutenant had reported. Adama was still shocked that he hadn't lost anyone.

"Recall the squadrons and get them refueled and rearmed just in case. Have Primus stay on CAP for now. Signal that ship and let's see who our saviors are." Lt. Dualla was laughing and crying at the same time. "They are hailing us Admiral." Adama just nodded. "Well put them on."

Once the speaker came on they heard the voice of their savior. " _Galactica, this is Captain Barrett of the UEC Magellan. We read significant damage to a lot of your ships to include yours. I can offer assistance from my ship for repairs and medical needs that you may have. May I come aboard with some of my staff and engineers to see what we can help with?"_

Admiral Adama thought for a bit. "I would love to have you aboard but at the moment we need to attend to the civilian ships that jumped out when the Cylons attacked. I can send a crew over in a Raptor to bring you to where we will be. I don't want to send the coordinates over an unsecure line."

The speaker crackled with a slight bit of static. _"That will be fine Galactica. I will meet them in the hanger bay. Magellan out."_

It didn't take long before the Colonial Raptor was swinging around the back of the saucer section of the _Magellan._ Athena was flying the Raptor with Starbuck, Apollo, and Helo along for the ride and back-up. All of them were staring out the front of the Raptor at the crew of the _Magellan_ standing in the open hanger bay waiting for them. "Their bay doors are open and they are standing there in open space! They're frakking Cylons! It's a trick!"

Athena shook her head. "No Starbuck, they can't be. Remember? They have energy shields maybe they have the same type of thing to keep the air in?" Helo was scanning the ship from his station. "I agree with Athena, I can detect the energy barrier at the opening. Well, I can sort of detect it. It is putting out so much power that I can't get a clear reading. I say we go for it. I mean why would they try to trick us when that ship alone has enough firepower to have blown us out of the stars all by itself?"

With that small statement of faith from Helo, Athena pushed the Raptor forward toward the open hanger bay.

 **Ascended Plain of Existence**

" _We have done all that we can without attracting the attention of the others. We no longer have the ability to hide our actions as we once could. We should have stopped the original attack while we had the power of numbers. We will have to trust in the new Alliance forged by our Allies of Old. And to think, none of this would have been necessary,if I hadn't gone back to Earth to search out those same Allies after centuries without contact from them."_ The white haired man with the unnaturally Blue eyes said while shaking his large mane of hair. With that the two beings faded into a white light with a bit of blue tint and parted ways.

 **Hanger Bay, UEC** _ **Magellan**_

Captain Barrett was standing with his Executive Officer (Commander Sanders), his CMO (Chief Medical Officer), and his head of security. Also, ready to move into position once the Raptor landed, there was an honor guard for visiting dignitaries. As the Raptor settled to the floor of the hanger, Captain Barrett stepped forward and waited until the side hatch opened.

"Welcome aboard the UEC _Magellan_ , I am Captain Barrett. This is my Executive Officer, Commander Sanders, my Chief Medical Officer, Lieutenant Commander Sanchez, and my head of security, Lieutenant James. " Apollo stepped forward. "Thank you Captain, I am Commander Lee Adama, call sign Apollo. This is Captain Kara Thrace, call sign Starbuck, and Lieutenants Sharon and Carl Agathon, call signs Athena and Helo respectively."

Starbuck stepped forward too, "What is the UEC? We've never heard of it." Captain Barrett motioned to the turbolift. "Walk with me while I explain. The UEC is the United Earth Confederation. It is the overall po…" But Starbuck cut him off before he could finish. "Wait a frakking minute, did you just say Earth?"

Captain Barrett looked toward his XO with a bit of confusion. "Yes, as I was saying, the UEC is the overall power in at least four galaxies and building in dozens more." All four Colonials looked at each other with looks of both worry and hope. Apollo was the first one to gain his composure. "We have been searching for Earth for nearly two years."

The turbolift doors opened to the bridge and the group continued their conversation. "Earth is the place where the 13th tribe or colony, from the home of humanity, Kobol, left in search of around two thousand or four thousand years ago, depending on which interpretation you prefer."

Commander Sanders shook his head. "I'm not sure where you got your beliefs Commander but we have documented evidence dating back tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousand years, that Earth is the home of humanity."

Again the four Colonials exchanged looks. "I wouldn't say that too loud around the Quorum of Twelve. You'd be branded as heretics and blasphemers. Don't your people still worship the Lords of Kobol?" It was the UEC crews turn to exchange looks.

"Who are the Lords of Kobol?" Commander Sanders asked. "This could be a problem." Apollo stated flatly. Captain Barrett continued on to his command chair. "We'll figure out the particulars of humanity later. Let's link up with the rest of your fleet and go from there." Athena took one look at the navigational computer and shook her head.

"I have no idea how their navigational coordinates match up with ours. I can't make head nor tails of this. I would have to link directly to their console." Captain Barrett was having none of that. "That's alright, we already have your fleet on sensors and have had since they jumped away. We have fairly advanced sensors. They are just over twelve light years further toward the edge of the galaxy. Helm, take us into hyperspace to their fleet." Captain Barrett wasn't a super religious man but he had been raised Southern Baptist and religious zealots had always rubbed him the wrong way.

Captain Barrett was one of the UEC officers that had been an officer in the United States Navy before the Stargate Program was revealed to the public. He had been the weapons officer on the USS Cole when it was attacked in the harbor in Yemen by Radical Islamic Terrorists.

The Colonial Officers were in awe of the level of technology they were seeing around them. Apollo still wasn't happy about the fact that these UEC humans already knew where the fleet was. Starbuck was also obviously fuming over something and finally it burst out of her. "Why the frak haven't we moved to the fleet? And why do you have windows on your ship? Don't you know how frakking stupid that is for a design for a warship and it makes a very juicy target in a combat situation?"

Captain Barrett couldn't help but chuckle even though he was irritated. "First of all Captain, this isn't a warship. It is a Tactical Exploration Cruiser. Second, we are only a few seconds from your fleet." He gestured to a door and walked toward it. The door swished open at his approach and the Colonials could see a large table with a set of large windows behind it. Outside of the window was the blueish swirl of hyperspace.

At exactly the same instant as Starbuck was about to protest going into a room with widows, the scenery outside of said windows changed as the _Magellan_ made the transition back to normal space. Now the view out the same windows was that of the rest of the Colonial fleet with the _Galactica_ foremost in view.

"I didn't even feel us moving. And to reach the fleet that fast, we must have been moving at several magnitudes above the speed of light yet no sensation of moving at all." Athena said almost reverently. They had all seen the view of hyperspace and knew it was nothing like their jump drives. "It is a FTL (faster than light) way of travel that was discovered and utilized for millions of years by several races, one of which we call the Alterans or Ancients. They are basically the first iteration of human evolution that we know of."

Just then the coms chirped with an incoming hail. "Captain, it's Admiral Adama signaling. Also Admiral O'Neill sent you a personal message to be viewed at your first convenience." Captain Barrett nodded to put Admiral Adama through. "Admiral, we read you. Your people have been filling us in on some interesting facts about your civilization that I think you and I need to discuss face to face. How would you feel about joining me for dinner on my ship?"

After a short pause he heard a female's voice. "Captain Barrett is it? This is President Laura Roslin. I am the elected President for the Twelve Colonies. Would it be acceptable if I joined you as well?"

Captain Barrett looked toward the four Colonial guests on his bridge. "My apologies Madam President. I wasn't aware of your presence with the fleet. Yes, it would be most acceptable if you would join us as well. Shall we say in two hours if that is acceptable to you?" Starbuck smiled a cocky smile and shrugged her shoulders.

"You're not worried about the Cylons coming back Captain?" He heard the slight tremor of fear in President Roslin's voice. "Madam President, I am more than confident the _Magellan_ can handle anything the Cylons may have up their sleeves. She may be a ship designed for exploration but she has a bite that is as loud as her bark as you must have witnessed earlier."

After a short pause he heard the reply. "Yes Captain, I saw what your ship is capable of but you are one ship and the Cylons have hundreds. I would feel much safer if we could leave this area of space as soon as possible." Barrett could hear some low voices that were too inaudible to actually understand.

"Ok Captain, two hours. But I am going to keep my Viper squadrons on a rotational patrol schedule and Raptors on picket just in case." Admiral Adama stated. Captain Barrett looked toward Starbuck and shrugged himself this time. "I understand Admiral. So should we send your crew back or continue to show them our ship and build relations?" He couldn't help himself, he really disdained religious zealots. Not that he sensed Admiral Adama was a zealot other than protecting what was the last of his people, he just wasn't sure about this whole thing. He heard a chuckle from Adama. "I'll leave that decision to my crew as you put it Captain."

The four Colonials looked back and forth at each other. In the end, Apollo and Starbuck decided to stay and learn more about these strange humans. Athena and Helo returned to the _Galactica_ to brief Admiral Adama since Athena could relay in great detail everything that she saw. Captain Barrett let his XO take over the tour while he went to see what Admiral O'Neill had said in his reply.

Ten minutes later Captain Barrett walked out of his ready room grinning from ear to ear. He was about to tell his second officer to take the bridge but a confused sound from his communications officer stopped him. "What the hell was that? Captain, you need to see this." Captain Barrett made his way over to see what he needed to see.

"Is that what I think it is?" He asked looking at the data streaming across the screen. "It's a subspace transmission carrying massive amounts of data. It went out as we destroyed the Cylon fleet. But with their ships destroyed, how could they send a subspace signal? I don't understand it Captain but there is the evidence." The Captain pondered what he was seeing. "I guess I'll just have to ask the Admiral and President over dinner to see if they know what it means. In the meantime, notify me discreetly when they arrive. I have a state dinner to prepare for. See if the Admiral might want to be picked up in one of our shuttles to compare the difference for himself."

 **Two hours later**

 **Captains Mess aboard UEC** _ **Magellan**_

President Roslin and Admiral Adama were enjoying the meal prepared for them but anyone could see that both were nervous. The admiral kept looking toward the large window on the wall of the room. Captain Barrett smiled slightly. "Admiral, is the window making you nervous? Starbuck expressed the same concern. I can assure you they are as strong as the hull." The admiral couldn't help but snort at that. "How can glass be as strong as whatever your hull is made of?"

Captain Barrett looked the admiral in the eye before answering. "Well Admiral, it's not glass. It's the same compound as the hull. To make it transparent is simply a process of adding a smart photo cell that will darken or lighten the area of the hull we want as a window on command. Another thing is there are very few things that we know of that can penetrate our shields."

Admiral Adama nodded. "Speaking of shields, we thought they were only theoretical. Our scientists have tried for decades to develop them but could never make them work. Our problem was power generation mainly. We just couldn't generate the power our calculations showed that would be required for that type of defensive shield."

Barrett knew what he meant as the SGC had ran into the same problem before the Federation had helped them out. "Believe it or not Admiral, before we got help from some newly made Allies recently, we had the same problem. Now those same Allies have helped us with a lot of our technology as have several other Allies. The UEC was created and has grown to be the major power in multiple galaxies as a result of those alliances.

President Roslin took that moment to interject into the conversation. "Speaking of the UEC Captain, our people told us a pretty amazing and troubling story. They say you told them that you did not know who the Lords of Kobol were and that you don't recognize Kobol as the birthplace of Humanity."

Admiral Adama winced just a bit because he was hoping to avoid this type of conversation until he was sure the fleet was safe. President Roslin just continued not in the least bothered. "Our Sacred Scrolls clearly show that the 13th tribe left between 2,000 and 4,000 years ago in search of Earth. How can your people have forgotten that?"

Captain Barrett answered calmly. "Madam President, not to sound disrespectful, we once thought human life on Earth dated back tens of thousands of years. Now we have absolute proof that it dates back millions of years." He could see the President wasn't really buying it.

"Ok, let me start about 10,000 years ago. A race called the Goa'uld arrived on Earth and began using humans as hosts and slaves. They moved hundreds of thousands of humans to hundreds of worlds to use as slave labor, hosts, and to genetically modify into Soldiers for their Armies. I'll admit I have never heard of them transporting outside of the galaxy though but it's something we can't discount."

President Roslin blinked. "You mean Earth is not in this galaxy? How is that possible? I will admit the scrolls don't say one way or the other but I always assumed Earth was in our galaxy."

Captain Barrett merely shrugged. "I don't know the answer to that one Madam President but I do know that humanity began on Earth hundreds of thousands of years ago. There was another race of humans that evolved in another galaxy millions of years ago. They were called the Alterans and they left that galaxy to escape a war of genocide by another faction of their race. They were one of the original races in the Alliance of the four great races. Now they are one of our closest Allies in the UEC."

The tension was thick in the room. "As for the Lords of Kobol, no, I don't know who they are." Captain Barrett was starting to get a bit frustrated and Admiral Adama could sense it as could President Roslin. "You truly have never heard of Hera, Apollo, Zeus, Ares, or Poseidon?" Barrett looked up. "Those are names of some of the Greek Pantheon of Gods. They just aren't worshipped on Earth and haven't been for over a thousand years. There is also Aphrodite, Artemis, Aurora, Athena, and a few others. I did notice your son uses Apollo as his call sign." He indicated the admiral.

"So you do know the Lords?" President Roslin asked. "If they are no longer worshipped, what Gods do the people of Earth follow now?" Captain Barrett couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle. "That's the million dollar question Madam President. The people of Earth don't all follow the same religion. There are literally hundreds of different religions on Earth. The big four with the most followers are Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism. Those four account for about half of Earth's seven billion people. Each one of the first three believe there is only one God. The last is also a Pantheon like yours but with different Gods."

Roslin gasped. "So you are saying that most of Earth is monotheists?" A look of almost sheer terror crossed her face. Before Captain Barrett could respond, his combadge chirped."Go ahead Number One." He said after he tapped his badge to answer the call.

"Captain, we've picked up another Cylon attack fleet closing on our position. They should be able to jump into this system in the next five minutes." The look of terror grew much deeper on the Presidents face but the Admiral became almost furious.

"I gambled on your word Captain and it looks like I lost. I need to return to the _Galactica_ immediately." Captain Barrett was already on his feet moving toward the door. "That is your choice Admiral but I think you should see something first." Admiral Adama started to protest but the twinkle in Captain Barrett's eye changed his mind. "Ok Captain, let's make it quick though." He then followed the captain onto the bridge of the _Magellan_.

"Admiral, I know this display may be different than yours but I am sure you can understand it." Admiral Adama pulled out his glasses and looked at the display in front of him. "It's similar to our DRADIS system so I would say it is a scanner of some kind. So I would say that we are surrounded by a fleet of ships that does not belong to my fleet."

Captain Barret smiled. "You would be correct of both counts Admiral. Admiral O'Neill sent the UEC 7th Fleet to reinforce my ship when we sent him our report earlier. They arrived in the system well over an hour before we began dinner." Adama pulled out a large hand held communicator. "They must have been close to make it here that fast." He motioned to the wireless in his hand. Captain Barrett nodded. "Adama to _Galactica_ , Lt. Gaeta, tell me what you see on DRADIS besides our fleet." He knew he hadn't seen anything out of the window in the Captains Mess so he wanted to see what DRADIS picked up.

" _Admiral, the only thing registering on DRADIS, other than our fleet and CAP, is the UEC Magellan."_ Adama turned to look at a grinning Barrett. "Admiral, did you see the _Magellan_ before we opened fire on the Cylon missiles?" Adama thought for a second. "No, I suppose I assumed you jumped in between us and the missiles."

Captain Barrett continued to smile but shook his head. "No Admiral, we had been observing your fleet for quite some time before we maneuvered between the missiles and your fleet. Our ships have the ability to cloak which effectively hides them from visual or electronic detection. So the Cylons have a VERY rude awakening waiting for them when they arrive. As you have seen, we can detect them MUCH further away than your DRADIS can. When the Cylons make their last jump to this system, the fleet will drop their cloaks and open fire on them the instant they reappear here."

Admiral Adama was actually a bit taken aback by this new development. "You have us far outclassed in every form of technology. I must warn you the Cylons will turn that against you especially if you are networked." Captain Barrett shook his head. "No Sir, they tried before we destroyed them in the last encounter. Our firewalls and IC, that's Intrusion Counter-measure, stopped them cold. We isolated the virus to a shielded, stand-alone console to study later so we can be ready in case they develop a better one. By the way, my communications officer picked up some kind of subspace transmission less than a second after we destroyed the Cylon fleet. Do you know what that could have been?"

Admiral Adama's brain was spinning but that last question made him pause. The Admiral and President shared a knowing look. "It is how they resurrect. You see the Cylons are robots that we created to use as servants. They rebelled and fought two wars with they die, they are somehow able to transmit their consciousness to a new body and live again. But one of their resurrection ships has to be in a certain range. We destroyed their main colony hub not long before you found us. This time, the second war, they developed what we call skin jobs or robots that are indistinguishable from humans without a Cylon detector. They infiltrated the Colonies and installed a backdoor program in our navigation systems to allow a virus to shut down our warships before they attacked. We didn't stand a chance."

Captain Barrett looked over to Commander Sanders who stepped up and handed him a PADD. "You mean like that Lieutenant Sharon Agathon? Don't look surprised Admiral, our sensors are much more sophisticated and sensitive than yours. Our internal sensors registered her as not human the instant she crossed the force field of the hanger bay. We have had our own problems with mechanical lifeforms so we had to develop sensors to protect ourselves when they also developed human forms of themselves."

Just then Commander Sanders spoke up. "Captain, the Cylon fleet will be here any second. 7th Fleet has split to either side of the Colonial Fleet as we can detect where the Cylons jump from but not exactly where they will reappear."

Captain Barrett moved to his chair. "This should be fun. Red Alert, raise shields, and power all weapons systems. Admiral, you and the President might want to have a seat. It may get a bit bumpy here soon."

The UEC fleet had detected the Cylons as they jumped so when the Cylons reappeared, surprised was an understatement to what they felt when faced with a large fleet of the alien warships similar to the one they had fought and lost badly too before. 7th Fleet consisted of forty-five ships centered on the _Enterprise_ class Super Dreadnaught, the _Enterprise_ herself. The escort ships for the 7th Fleet were two _Atrox_ Class Heavy Carriers, four _Vanquisher_ Class Dreadnaughts, four _Avenger_ Class battleships, five _Sovereign_ Class heavy cruisers, five _Intrepid_ Class medium cruisers, ten _Defiant_ Class escort destroyers, ten _Saber_ Class light cruisers, and four _Phantom_ Class stealth cruisers.

When the 7th Fleet decloaked, Admiral Adama nearly choked at the size of the _Enterprise_ as it was larger than a Warstar. The reaction in the CIC of the _Galactica_ was even more dramatic. Lt. Gaeta had nearly collapsed when the massive ship appeared on DRADIS with a cloud of other ships that were easily larger than the _Galactica_ herself.

Lt. Dualla actually laughed at him as she was getting reports of the fleet in the chatter coming from the civilian fleet and the CAP. "Calm down Felix, it's a fleet from the UEC that was sent to reinforce the _Magellan_." To prove her point, she flipped the wireless to the CIC speakers. " _Galactica this is Captain Barrett. The large fleet you see decloaking around you is the 7_ _th_ _fleet of the UEC sent to reinforce us in case the Cylons send a larger attack which will be any second now as we have tracked them preparing to jump to this system._ "

At that moment a fleet of thirty Cylon basestars jumped into the system and immediately launched missiles and raiders. Thousands of missiles were suddenly bearing down on the fleet. Civilian ships began to wink out in flashes as they had their jump drives already spun up. Admiral Adama had set fall back coordinates as they always did when they were in any system. Only a few stayed to see what would happen with the UEC fleet around them.

The few ships that stayed were not disappointed. Though the basestars got off the first shots, they only got that one. The massive rail guns of the _Enterprise_ and _Vanquishers_ slammed into the sixteen basestars each barrel individually targeted and punched through the center with so much velocity, it sucked the explosion into comet shaped debris. The _Phantom_ class stealth cruisers were positioned way wide of the battle running every conceivable scan they could. The rest of the capital ships of the fleet targeted the remaining basestars while the _Sabers_ and _Defiants_ took on the raiders and missiles. Once again, not one single basestar survived the battle and very few raiders made it clear enough to jump out.

Admiral Adama and President Roslin watched the very brief and clearly one-sided battle in stunned silence from the bridge of the _Magellan_. Captain Barrett had kept out of the fight and ran scans like the _Phantoms_ had done. "Charlie, were you able to isolate the resurrection frequencies?" He asked with a twinkle in his eye. Admiral Adama was astounded when the ramifications of that innocent question hit him.

"By the Gods, you can jam their resurrection! That would in essence be a death sentence to any Cylon that attacked you! " Barrett nodded in appreciation. "Very good Admiral. I see why you were one of the few to survive." Commander Sanders smiled as he answered. "Yes Captain I was, but that's not all. I was able to isolate their jump frequencies." Captain Barrett had known Charlie for many years as both were former US Naval officers that had served together before the Stargate Program became public knowledge. He could tell there was something else Charlie wanted to tell him in private.

Admiral Adama didn't miss much either and he caught the subtle nuance between the two friends, it reminded him so much of Colonel Tigh and himself. "Captain, I have enjoyed the hospitality but I feel it's time we made our way back to the _Galactica_." Captain Barrett couldn't help but smile. "Alright Admiral, I'll escort you two back to the shuttle bay. Also, Admiral O'Neill sent a full diplomatic team with the _Enterprise_ to help in the negotiations." President Roslin dipped her head in thanks. "Thank you Captain and please thank the Admiral in your next report. I would suggest you inform your diplomatic team that most of the Quorum won't be as tolerant about their faith being threatened as the Admiral and I were."

Captain Barrett nodded his thanks as well. "I will be sure to pass the message along Madam President." He said with a smile thinking, _"Tolerant? You practically bit my head off!"_

 **Cylon Resurrection Ship**

 **A few hours later**

"Where the frak did that other fleet come from? What the hell was that they were firing that shredded our basestars into cosmic dust? How the frak do you idiots plan on helping me destroy them?" Cavil was storming around the room still naked after resurrecting (again) in just a few hours. Simon stepped forward and handed Cavil some clothes. "We send one basestar with one of us piloting it." He could see Cavil looking around for a pistol.

"Hear me out Cavil. Before we jump in, we have a hundred raiders set to automatically jump from inside the bay and passed their shields. We could take it one step further and have the raiders loaded with tylium precursor. There would be no one in the raiders and only one of us piloting the basestar."

Once Simon had gotten to the part about jumping passed the new enemies shields, a slow grin had begun to form on Cavil's face. Cavil was so happy by the end of Simon's explanation, he put his hand on Simon's shoulder. "Brother Simon. You have made me the happiest man in the galaxy. Your plan is so brilliant, I am going to allow you to be the one that pilots the basestar." He turned and walked from the room leaving a stunned and speechless Simon with his mouth opening and closing but no sound coming out. "You others help him program the raiders to jump from the bay as soon as the basestar completes the jump." He called over his shoulder before beginning to whistle as he sauntered down the hall.

 **UEC** _ **Enterprise**_ **Conference Room**

 **Several Hours after the 2** **nd** **Attack**

The negotiations weren't going well as the Quorum of Twelve had interjected themselves into the middle of the talks. This had severely hampered President Roslin's efforts to build trust and rapport with the UEC. With Ayiana off helping the Federation, Dr. Elizabeth Weir was the lead negotiator sent by Admiral O'Neill. Dr. Weir rubbed her temples thinking to herself. _"Jack, when I get my hands on you I will strangle you with my own two hands. Who would have thought my negotiations with the Genii would be easier than this one has been?"_

She raised her voice over the arguing Quorum members. "ALRIGHT! Quiet! Let's take a thirty minute break and try this again then. We are getting nowhere sitting in here yelling at each other." She went to stand when her combadge chirped. "Dr. Weir, we are detecting a single Cylon basestar approaching the system. From our calculations, it will enter the system in less than five minutes."

Dr. Weir tapped her combadge. "I read you Admiral. I'll let the Quorum know." She turned to the Quorum. "I've just been informed by the Admiral that a single Cylon basestar is less than five minutes from entering the system. After what we just did to forty of their basestars, I have no idea why they would send just one after us. But let me reassure you that you are perfectly safe here aboard the _Enterprise_. She has the most powerful shields in o..."

She never finished her sentence as she heard the railgun fire just as the massive UEC warship shook violently and alarms began sounding all over the ship. Large explosions ripped through parts of the ship. Elizabeth immediately began calling the Admiral only to be told he had a lot of other problems on his hands but marines were in route to escort the Quorum to the closest hanger. She had no idea how the Cylons had managed to do it. But somehow they were able to severely damage one of the most powerful ships in the UEC fleet.

What she didn't know and wouldn't until she managed to get to the bridge, was that not only was the _Enterprise_ nearly crippled but over half of the UEC's 7th Fleet had been outright destroyed. Once the Quorum were safely away and out of sight, she made a site to site transport to the bridge.

"My God." Was all she could say when she took in all of the smoke filled bridge and the flickering view on the main viewscreen. Debris from the 7th fleet was scattered all around. Vipers, Raptors, and Puddle Jumpers were moving in and out of the debris rescuing survivors. As she approached the Admiral she heard a report to him from another bridge officer she didn't know. "Admiral, that's the last of the crew from all of the wreckage. I would suggest destroying the remaining wreckage with photon torpedoes to prevent the Cylons from salvaging any of our technology."

Admiral Lincoln nodded. "Apparently you forgot we have Asgard beams. We won't need to destroy them now. We will simply sweep the system clear of all debris. We have already begun the most critical repairs using the debris as replicator stock. And find me a ship that still has long range communications working." He said as he turned toward Dr. Weir. Elizabeth nodded her head in understanding and thought to herself, " _He must have taken the place of someone injured during the attack or he is still young and this battle scared him into not thinking straight."_

"They got us good Elizabeth. Dirty bastards are smart, I'll give you that. We were puzzled why they sent just one basestar after we had thoroughly kicked their asses before. I was hoping maybe they had decided to take us up on Captain Barrett's offer of mediation. But no, the instant the basestar popped into the system, we detected multiple smaller jumps from what they call their raiders. They literally jumped from their hanger bay, passed the shields of the fleet, and most directly inside the hull of the targeted ship. The only reason why we didn't lose the entire fleet is because of the sheer size of some of the ships."

When the Quorum got back to the _Galactica_ , they used their terror and power to order the Colonial Fleet to try to make Admiral Adama jump away from the badly damaged UEC fleet. It was an order both he and President Roslin flatly refused.

"Marines, get these cowards off of my ship and if they refuse to move as told, shoot them." Several Marines moved forward quickly. "Yes Sir, gladly." The Marine Sergeant on duty at the time had only seen the Admiral this mad one time and he was just glad he wasn't on the receiving end of that seething rage.

Adama turned to Lt. Dualla. "Order the civilian fleet to jump to rally point Zeus. Add any that want to stay and help with the SAR (search and rescue) are more than welcome. We owe these people or lives and more." After Dualla relayed his orders, the only ship that jumped away was the one containing the Quorum when they made it back to their ship. When Lt. Gaeta told him they were the only ship that jumped, he snarled under his breath. "Frakking cowards." Which of course scared the hell out of most of them in the CIC as they had rarely heard the Admiral curse.

Admiral Lincoln hailed the _Galactica_ when he was notified that a ship had jumped away and the that the Colonials were offering more of their assistance for the SAR. "Admiral, I appreciate the offer, we all do. But we are finished and are about to collect the debris of our fleet and jump back to our galaxy. You already know your jump drive is capable of taking you there, so if you will permit, I will have them exact calculations for a safe jump sent to you."

Adama was a bit nervous trusting the heavily networked computer system of the UEC but also remembered their computers were much more advanced than anything the Colonies had ever dreamed of much less built. "Agreed Admiral, I'll send a Raptor over now to collect them." He turned to give that order but was stopped by Admiral Lincoln.

"No Admiral. Let me explain. Do you fully trust your CIC crew to keep a secret?" He knew the answer but had to follow protocol. Admiral Adama almost got offended but his gut told him to go with it so he simply answered the question. "I trust them implicitly Admiral, why?" A sparkling column of lights in the CIC coalescing into Dr. Weir was the answer to his question."

She smiled at the stunned reaction of everyone, to include Admiral Adama, in the CIC. She simply handed him a PADD with a cable adapter attached. "The coordinates are on this Admiral. An adapter that is compatible with you equipment has been added. You can then send the exact coordinates to the rest of your fleet after they have translated to your system." Adama took a few unusual seconds to recover his composure over realizing the UEC had matter transporting technology. He, along with every single Colonial, had thought that stuff was only movie magic. He had been wrong as had the Colonials been about a lot of things. He silently vowed to make up for all of that in any way he could with the help of these newly found Allies, hopefully anyway. He turned and handed the PADD to Lt. Dualla before adding, "Dee, have these transmitted to the fleet. And load them into a Raptor to go bring those cowards from the Quorum to where we will be. I'm half tempted to leave the bastards at rally point Zeus and let them rot. I won't even though I think most of them deserve it."

It didn't take long for the coordinates to be disseminated to the rest of the fleet. The remnants of the 7th Fleet waited until the Colonial Fleet had jumped away before jumping to hyperspace. A message had already been sent to Admiral O'Neill so reinforcements in the form of four full fleets were already at the coordinates they had provided to the Colonials. Dozens of heavy construction ships were already in the process of building defensive turrets and a massive starbase to serve as their staging point for what looked to be another war to save humanity.

UEC scientists were already going over every scrap of information they had in hopes of finding ways to defend against the most dire and dangerous threat they had faced since before the Federation had made their Desperate Decision to help them defeat the Goa'uld.

 **Well here you go, the next book in the continuing saga of the UEC. Sorry it took so long to get out but real life kind of got in the way and stress has a way of killing the muse. Hopefully now that retirement is much closer and the stress has gone WAY down, I'll be able to find that rhythm again and keep the chapters coming much more frequently.**


	2. Chapter 2

_**I thought I would do something a bit different, like I have seen in several other stories, and answer the reviews I got from the first chapter.**_

 _ **6747- I said they had the frequency, I never said they figured out how to jam it yet. Jamming a subspace transmission would be a lot easier than jamming what is basically a wormhole drive. It is not like transporters, it has been described more like folding space. But for the purpose of this story, it is more like a wormhole drive.**_

 _ **Sandrio- You have to read the first part of the story called Desperate Decisions. It was a Star Trek/Stargate crossover now I am adding BSG 2003 to it as well. Once this story line is finished, I might add another crossover to this continuing storyline.**_

 _ **Delta 1- You are very welcome and thank you. I am doing well just working on setting up for my retirement in a few months**_

 _ **Nomadic1- Good catch, that was a re-write I did as it was originally Dr. Weir making the comment about photon torpedoes then I remembered she was Ayiana's assistant and diplomatic attaché so I changed it but forgot to change the part below with her chiding herself forgetting.**_

 _ **thunder18- No problem working it.**_

 _ **inuboy86- Lol, told you I hadn't forgotten you**_

 _ **NightSkyWolf- I will try to get out at least a chapter every two weeks if not sooner.**_

 _ **Arthorius- Not quite sure what you mean by nerfing the UEC fleet. I have a plan and an idea given to me from a guest post but I needed a way to set it up. Wiping out most of the 7th Fleet was the perfect way to set it up and remind the UEC not to get too cocky if that is what you meant.**_

 **CIC of the** _ **Galactica**_

 **Just inside the Milkyway**

"Multiple DRADIS contacts Admiral. This system is loaded with ships, satellites and a large station under construction." Lt. Gaeta reported as the Colonial Fleet finished its jump. "All ships present and accounted for Admiral. We are being hailed as well." Dualla added as reports came in from all ships. "Put it on speakers then Lieutenant." Admiral Adama ordered.

"Admiral Adama, I am Admiral O'Neill, Commander of the UEC Military forces. We welcome you to the Milky Way galaxy and home of Earth." Adama still felt like this was all a dream. "Thank you Admiral. My thoughts and prayers go out to you over the loss of so many of your people and ships in your effort to protect us." A heavy silence fell over the CIC before the reply came over the speakers.

"It happens in war Admiral and it is not the first time people I ordered into a situation died. As much as I hate it, I also know that it won't be the last time I lose people. But some of our scientists may have come up with a way to counter the Cylon tactic of jumping inside our shields. If you would bring your senior officers and the president over to the starbase, we can go over the details. We can also discuss future options for your people." Admiral Adama nodded his agreement even though O'Neill couldn't see it.

"We'll be there in about fifteen minutes Admiral. We prefer to travel the old fashioned way instead of the way Dr. Weir came to us earlier." Admiral O'Neill couldn't help but chuckle. "I understand Admiral, I really do but you'll get used to it trust me. Ok, I'll see you in fifteen minutes, O'Neill out."

A little over twenty minutes later, Admiral Adama, President Roslin, Commander Adama, and Gaius Baltar were sitting in the conference room of the partially finished starbase. Also seated in the room were Admiral O'Neill, Rodney McKay, Radek Zelenka, Narim, Moros, and another man that until recently had chosen to stay ascended. His name was Janus. He had decided to retake mortal form when approached by another ascended being and told about the situation that was going on.

Admiral O'Neill stood up and called the meeting to order. "We're here to discuss the ramifications of the little disaster that just befell my forces and to decide where we go in the future with the remnants of the Colonial Civilization. Our scientists, in close cooperation with two gentleman that could be considered to be two of the greatest inventors in human history, have come up with a possible counter to Cylon suicide attacks." He paused and decided not to go over that development just yet.

"We won't get into the specifics of that counter just yet but what I want to discuss is options for the future of the Colonials if this counter works." Adama and Roslin looked at each other. "What are you considering Admiral?"

O'Neill smiled. "Well we have a couple of options, more actually. One would be helping you find a habitable world here in the Milky Way, which we know of several. Two would be helping you retake, clean-up, and resettle your original colonies. Part of that option would be Kobol as well if you were interested. Another option would be setting you up on a habitable world in any galaxy we have influence in, which by the way is many."

He paused again to look around at the faces of his Colonials faces. President Roslin spoke up. "You're not going to let us settle on Earth are you?" She stated flatly. Admiral O'Neill wasn't a diplomat but he could hold his own against the best of them. "No Madam President. We aren't just yet. Once your people have realized that your version of events isn't the only one, then we can see about allowing visits and vacations and such. Your religious views bother me to be honest. "

Janus spoke up. "Admiral, I happen to know someone that could help in this matter and promised to lend any help he could just not right now. He wants to see how the Colonials handle the situation on their own first. He said, oh how did he put that? Oh yes, he wants to see if they can outgrow the stubbornness that got them into their current mess. Yes, those were his words exactly."

Adama wasn't overly religious but he took Janus' words to the President as an insult. "Now you look here, who told you that? And speaking of who, who the hell are you?" Before Janus could answer, a blinding flash of light filled the room. Janus just smiled. "Now you've done it, he isn't happy at all."

Once the flash cleared and the Colonials and others could see again, they could all see an extremely muscular man with a massive mane of white flowing hair and unnaturally blue eyes. He was standing at the head of the table and answered in a commanding voice. "I told him that Admiral. I am Zeus and I brought your people to Kobol more than 10,000 years ago when the Goa'uld overran Earth. Now quit being so damn stubborn! You of all of my people have the ability to end this cycle of death your people have caused and endured for so many centuries. If you cannot, the Twelve Tribes of Kobol will end here, with the people of your fleet." Then he turned to Janus. "You have a big mouth, you know that?" Janus just smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

With that the room filled with a blinding flash of light again and when everyone's eyes could focus again, Zeus was gone. President Roslin and the rest of the Colonials were all staring at Admiral Adama in shock. Admiral O'Neill cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Now I don't know about your people ending with your fleet but I do know that you have to alter some of your beliefs or we will never be able to co-exist. We have had our fill of religious zealots trying to force their beliefs and religion down our throats."

He paused for effect. "We can help you and find a way to live together in peace or we help you fix your ships, fully resupply them, and send you out of this galaxy to fend for yourselves. We would at least locate a safe area to send you into so you could find your own destiny as it were or we can hash out a solution that works for everyone. It's your choice Admiral and Madam President. As we say on Earth, the ball is now in your court."

Adama began to rise. "I don't take threats well Admiral." President Roslin put her hand on his arm. "Bill, if you trust me, let me handle this. We didn't fight to survive these last two years to lose it all because of a contest to see whose balls are bigger. You heard Zeus as well as I did. YOU are the one that can end this cycle!" Everyone in the room to include the two former ascended beings was totally stunned to hear those words coming from the President of what was left of the Twelve Tribes of Kobol."

Admiral Adama sat back down looking rather ashamed. "I'm sorry Admiral, Laura is right. We need to find a way to solve this without any, "measuring contests". "That was all it took to break the building tension in the room. Everyone had a laugh and once it was over, President Roslin addressed Janus.

"So, Janus is it? How do you know Zeus?" Again Janus just shrugged his shoulders. "I have known him since before he took your people from Earth to protect you from the Goa'uld. But I lost track of him while he and his family nurtured and taught your people on Kobol. We didn't meet again until we were both ascended."

That struck the Colonials like a lightning bolt. It was Apollo that recovered first. "Wait. You were a God like Zeus?" Janus made ticking sounds with his mouth. "No dear boy. I, like Moros here, simply shed our flesh and blood bodies and ascended to a higher plane of existence. We gained immense knowledge of the universe and lived as pure energy beings. Yes we had great powers, which some of us can still use in human form, but we were not Gods. Neither is Zeus or any of his family."

After a few seconds Admiral Adama looked toward President Roslin. "Madam President, if you have no objections, I would like to take back our homes and settle Kobol as well." President Roslin nodded in agreement. "I believe the Quorum of Twelve would agree as well but we don't have the ships or personnel for that kind of operation. Not to mention the last attack destroyed most of an entire fleet."

Moros spoke up then. "We think we have a solution to the Cylon, and yours by the way, jump drive. The jump drive you both use is basically a poorly reverse engineered Furling wormhole drive. It basically opens a hole through space that allows your ships to instantly transport to another place in space. Granted the Furling drive is much more precise and can travel much greater distance but that is mainly due to their much better computer systems. But even if you had their computers, you still would burn out your engines trying to duplicate the distance the Furlings could."

It was Baltar that became offended by that off-hand comment. "Now just wait a minute. Our technology was handed down to us by the Lords of Kobol. We have used it for over 2,000 years. We basically regressed technologically because the Cylons could take over and control our more advanced, networked systems."

O'Neill just shook his head. "If you would wait a minute, we were about to tell you that part of the plan. We will help you build ships and train your people to use them. We won't give you our technology but we will give you something much better than you have now. We also will send several assault fleets along to assist. Our security measures in computer defense is millions of years ahead of anything the Cylons can come up with. It stopped them cold when they tried to take over our systems. Now I will let Moros and the team he worked with explain what they came up with that should prevent the Cylons from jumping past our shields again."

Moros just nodded toward Janus. "We came up with a three layer shielding system with basically a smart shield as the first layer that forms a bubble around the ship. This layer scans the wormhole passing through it and sends a signal to the next two layers of shielding. The second layer is conformed in the shape of the hull but about twenty meters out from the hull." He paused as he pointed to a holographic display of an _Enterprise_ class super dreadnaught.

"The third layer is also conformed to the hull but is less than half a meter from the hull. It is the strongest of the three and nearly equal in power to the shields of the city ships themselves. Speaking of which, _Olympus_ was the city ship we traded to the Furlings over one hundred thousand years ago. He paused and looked the Colonials in the eyes while he waited for that to sink in.

"The outer layer then mirrors the middle layers blocking frequency effectively trapping and destroying any ship that jumps through it. With these layers of shields protecting our ships, we should have no problem assisting you in retaking your home worlds and Kobol."

The Colonials were all stunned that after the Cylons struck a devastating blow against the UEC, that they could find a way to turn it around and still offer their help. Even Admiral Adama and Doctor Baltar, after their earlier outburst, were humbled by the gesture. But it was President Roslin that spoke. "We thank you Admiral from the bottom of our hearts but are we safe here to plan and build?"

Jack looked toward her. "You are in a totally different galaxy Madam President. You are now 70,000 light years from where the 7th Fleet was destroyed." Baltar was stunned. "I knew we had traveled further than any Colonial had before but 70,000 light years? That sounds unbelievable Admiral." Admiral O'Neill couldn't help but laugh. "Doctor Baltar, we regularly make trips to and from the Pegasus Galaxy in a matter of hours and that's just over three million light years away. Our Allies have been making even longer trips much faster for over a million years."

Dr. Baltar could barely believe what he was hearing. It had been awhile since Six had appeared to him and he was seeing her now as she smiled down at him from the table where she was sitting. "Gaius, if the others get ahold of that technology, there will be no stopping them." Moros was staring straight at her as well. He looked around the room and quickly realized it was only Dr. Baltar and himself that could see this enchanting woman in the red dress.

"Normally I wouldn't say anything Dr. Baltar but in light of recent events in my life, I feel I must. Admiral O'Neill, I know you don't see her and neither does anyone else in the room but myself and Dr. Baltar. But there is a very enchanting young woman sitting on the table just to his right." Six was horrified that the old man could see her. "Gaius tried to play it off as if Moros was nuts but Moros cut him off. "Dr. Baltar, do not try and patronize me. I was High Councilor of the Alteran High Council. I have been ascended not once but twice. I retained most of my ascended powers and intellect so I see things that most average humans cannot, so yes, I see her. She is an amazingly beautiful woman, has blonde hair, is wearing a low cut red evening dress, and is approximately one point eight meters tall."

He looked to Admiral O'Neill at that point. "That would be five feet eleven inches in your measurements Admiral." Gaius was beginning to sweat profusely. "I don't know how I see her. I thought she was a figment of my imagination really. She is a Cylon model but I didn't know that until after the attacks. She was working as my assistant and she used my clearance to get access to the Colonial warships and install a back door that the Cylons used to shut down the fleet when they attacked. She was killed during the attacks when she saved my life by shielding me from the blast wave with her body."

Janus and Moros looked toward each other as Janus pulled a device from his pocket and activated it. Moros shook his head. "Nope, still there." Janus just wrinkled his forehead. But Admiral Adama and the rest of the Colonials were thoroughly confused. "What was that device?" Apollo asked what he knew everyone was thinking. Janus looked up a bit confused as well then he realized the Colonials had very little experience with subspace. 

"Oh sorry. It's a subspace jammer tuned to the frequency the Cylons use to transmit their minds in order to resurrect when they die. I was making sure there was no subspace link between Dr. Baltar and the Cylons. I have covered all known frequencies and according to my esteemed colleague here, she is still sitting there. So that leads me to the conclusion that whatever they are seeing is not coming from the Cylons. So the next logical explanation is that there is some sort of device, planted inside Dr. Baltar's brain that projects her."

President Roslin spoke up before Baltar could protest. "When he first began acting strangely and told us he was seeing her, we scanned him with our medical equipment on the _Galactica_ but we found nothing at all." Janus smirked but it was Jack that replied.

"Madam President, no offense but I think our instruments are just a tad bit more sophisticated than yours." He turned to Janus and Moros. "Do what you need. I need to know if he has something implanted in his brain and if it's a threat to our operations. Proceed with the scan Janus."

Janus and Moros looked at the Admiral like something had grown from his head. "Admiral, our hand scanners aren't powerful enough if it is microscopic which I suspect that it is. We will have to go down to my lab and us the bed scanner to see anything as small as that." He saw the look of horror on Admiral Adama's and President Roslin's face and the look of fear on Dr. Baltar's.

"Oh it's perfectly harmless and pain free my dear Doctor. And it won't take more than a few seconds to get a detailed scan. I promise you won't feel a thing." Janus promised with a huge smile. Adama and Roslin looked at each other before President Roslin looked toward Doctor Baltar whom nodded. "I would like to see for myself if there is something in my head, for my own sanity."

Six virtually purred. "Now Gaius, do you really think your friends will find anything? Do you really want to get rid of me that bad? We had fun together didn't we?" Moros was watching with increased curiosity as he observed the exchange. "I find this to be truly fascinating but maybe we should proceed to Janus' lab? You should come along too Milady."

Six actually laughed at that. "I like him, he's a real gentleman. Trust me, I will be along for the ride." President Roslin and Admiral Adama both stood as well. "We would like to see what you find as well." Janus shrugged. "Why not? I will go prepare the lab and see you there in a few minutes." With that he got up and walked out. He had a few items transported out that he didn't not want the Colonials to see.

As Janus had promised it didn't take long to run the scans and they caused Baltar absolutely zero pain. Six on the other hand immediately fell to the floor and begin writhing in utter anguish the instant the machine (that looked a lot like a CAT scan device) was turned on. But it was over as soon as the very short scan finished in seconds. "Oh Gaius, please don't let them do that again. That was the worst pain I have ever endured no matter how short it was." She pouted from the floor. Moros actually leaned down and offered her a hand rising.

"That's ok Milady. You won't have to endure that again. We have all that we need. It seems you are indeed a microscopic device planted deep in Dr. Baltar's cerebral cortex. There are no signals or capability to even send a signal other than project you for those of us that can to see and hear. What purpose that would serve, we have no idea unless it was to torture the poor Doctor for past deeds."

Dr. Baltar looked deeply embarrassed but kept quiet as he had already convinced Admiral Adama and President Roslin that he was as much a victim as everyone else. He was vastly curious about the highly advanced equipment all around him though. "Admiral, if it would be alright with you and the President and of course our new friends, I would like to stay here and assist on the designs and upgrades for our ships. I would suggest sending Chief Tyrol over as well. He knows as much or more than even I do about our ships and designs. He did design and build the _Blackbird_ after all."

Neither the Admiral nor the President had a problem with Baltar staying and neither did Admiral O'Neill once he knew the device in Baltar's head did not pose a threat to his people. No one objected to Chief Tyrol coming over to assist either. So President Roslin, Admiral Adama, and Commander Lee Adama returned to the _Galactica_ and gave Chief Tyrol an hour to get everything he would need to assist in designing and building new ships for the Colonial Fleet. Once Chief landed on the _Enterprise_ , the sensors detected something that had a squad of Marines in full battle armor pointing their rifles at him as he exited the _Raptor_. Chief dropped his tools and threw his hands in the air. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! What the frak is this?!"

Admiral O'Neill stood looking at him from behind the Marines. "Mister Tyrol, I'm going to ask you this once and once only. Does Admiral Adama know you are a Cylon or are you hiding it from him too?" Chief Galen Tyrol had heard a lot of things in his life but this one shocked him to his core.

"What the frak do you mean I am a Cylon? I am not a Cylon! My father was a Priest and my mother an Oracle! I've been serving in the fleet since I was 18!" Jack just shrugged. "I don't care who you think you are, the sensors say you are a Cylon and before I let you anywhere near any of our technology, Janus and Moros are going to scan you thoroughly and let me know what is going on. We aren't savages, you'll be treated fairly and with respect until we get to the bottom of this." The Marines took that as their cue to escort Chief Tyrol to Janus' lab.

Admiral O'Neill then returned to the control room on the starbase. "I want a thorough sensor scan of every ship in the Colonial fleet. We know there are at least two Cylons in their fleet now and I want to see if more are hiding among them." The sensor officer merely nodded and did as she was ordered. After a few minutes she reported her findings. "Admiral, sensors are detecting the presence of four Cylons on the _Galactica_ , one of which is Lt. Agathon, one on the luxury liner _Cloud_ Nine, and one on Colonial One.

O'Neill thought for a bit. "Beam all them except Lt. Agathon to the brig inside a class one containment field and get me Admiral Adama on the horn." It only took a few seconds before Admiral Adama's face came on the screen as the first thing Admiral O'Neill had ordered was a UEC communications console to be installed on the _Galactica_.

"I take it you would be the one responsible for my people vanishing in a flash of light Admiral." Adama stated flatly. O'Neill smiled to himself. "That I would Admiral that I would. Our sensors showed that Chief Tyrol is a Cylon the instant he crossed our atmospheric force field just as they did Lt. Agathon. So I had a full sensor sweep ran on every ship in your fleet and we detected six more Cylons hiding among your people." Just then the coms panel beeped an incoming call. The coms officer looked up. "Admiral, it's Janus and he says it's urgent that he speak with you." O'Neill frowned at the interruption.

"Excuse me Admiral. One of my scientists is calling and saying he needs to speak to me right now. It may have something to do with these Cylons we detected, I'll be right back." He nodded to the coms officer. "What is it Janus? I'm talking to Admiral Adama right now." He could hear the excitement in Janus' voice. "Admiral, there is no doubt, Chief Tyrol is a Cylon but not the same as Lt. Agathon. He is a bit more advanced and has had his memories blocked in a way."

O'Neill was confused. "Janus, how can he have memories if he is a Cylon?" He could almost see Janus laughing. "Admiral, for all intents and purposes, the Chief and Lieutenant are as human as the next person, they just have very minor differences. Between the two, besides the Chief being male and the Lieutenant being female, is Mr. Tyrol can reproduce the same as a human while the Lieutenant normally could not but has with a human. It's a complicated and truly fascinating story Admiral. Someone tried to erase the Chief's memories but as he is slightly different, all they did was manage to block them. It will be a simple process for me to unblock them so Chief knows who he really is."

O'Neill pondered over that wondering if it was the best course of action to unblock the memories. "Ok, Janus, hold that thought, I'll get back to you in a few seconds." With that he nodded to the coms officer to put Admiral Adama back on the main screen.

"Admiral, Janus has just informed me that the Chief is indeed a Cylon but is different from Lieutenant Agathon. Someone tried to erase his memories but only succeeded in blocking them. Janus says it is an easy process for him to fix but I wanted to contact you and see if that is something you wanted to do." It didn't take the Admiral long to decide at all. "You're damn right I want his memories unblocked. But not until I get there as I want each of the people you took scanned as well." He didn't give O'Neill a chance to even respond before he cut communications and headed to the hanger deck.

Ten minutes later, Admiral Adama and Admiral O'Neill were standing outside of the holding cells. Of the five Cylons beamed to the cells, only one was known to be a Cylon model by Lieutenant Agathon. He was a model one that went by the name of Brother Cavil. "This one is a model one that took the name John Cavil. His series were the model that pushed the hardest for war against the humans. He also considers himself to be the leader of all Cylons." The other four were Colonel Tigh, his wife Ellen Tigh, Samuel Anders, and Tory Foster, the President's personal secretary.

Colonel Tigh is furious at first but after the explanation from both Admirals, he was curious as well. "Admiral, I was pissed at first I ain't gonna lie. But now I need to know what the hell is really going on." Samuel Anders was quick to agree. "Me too, if I am a Cylon, I need to know how and why this is happening."

Admiral O'Neill walked over to stand in front of Brother Cavil's cell. "You're their leader, what can you tell me about any of this?" Cavil just shrugged. "I'm not telling you a damn thing. Now go away and leave me alone or just kill me." Jack laughed evilly. "I could do that if that's what you want. Oh, by the way. Don't think you would resurrect if I do kill you. We know the subspace frequency you transmit your consciousness on and we can jam that frequency. So if I do kill you, it will be permanent…"

Sharon was watching Cavil for a reaction and was stunned when he turned white as a ghost and began to panic. "You can't do that. That would be murder. Isn't murder against your laws?" O'Neill turned back toward him. "If you were the one that pushed for the annihilation of the Colonies of Kobol, I would be doing the universe a favor by killing you. Besides, to me, you're nothing more than a damn robot that looks like a human, so it wouldn't be murder." He walked away for good that time and ordered the other four to be brought to the lab with Chief Tyrol. _"I'm just glad Daniel wasn't here or he would be chewing my butt for that little comment."_ Jack thought to himself and he left the brig.

As they walked, Lt. Agathon began talking. "Admiral, there are twelve models of human form Cylons. You have seen the photos of six of them. Our number seven model was destroyed by Cavil because he resisted his leadership and fought against the war on the humans. Several of us protested and said it was wrong but were not nearly as vocal as Daniel, the seven model. The other five, none of us have ever seen and it is forbidden to even talk about them."

She paused looking for the right words. "They are called the "Final Five" but that is actually a misnomer as they are the ones that helped the mechanical Cylons make the other seven models and gave us the resurrection technology in exchange for making peace with the humans in the first Cylon War forty years ago. These four and Chief Tyrol may very well be the Final Five….." They continued on in silence until they got to Janus' lab.

 **Back in the Sagittarius Galaxy**

"Where the hell did they go? Where is the wreckage? What the frak is going on with you idiots?" Cavil was storming around the control room of the basestar lashing out at anyone or anything that got near him. A number four tried to placate him. "Our scans showed we destroyed most of the fleet sent by those humans calling themselves the UEC. There should be some evidence of wreckage still here in the system. The only place they could have gone is into the void past the outer edge of the solar system. But long range scans show nothing there but empty space." Cavil never said a word, he just drew his pistol and shot the four model. "Then send out raiders into the void and find them!"

 **Elsewhere on the command basestar**

A six, three, and an eight were talking quietly in a secluded part of the ship. "We have to do something. Cavil has gone totally crazy. He just shot another of us out of frustration. I know he didn't really die but it feels more and more difficult with each resurrection. We need to find a way to contact this UEC and let them know that not all of us feel or think the way Cavil and his little lackeys do. They may be human but they are much more advanced than the Colonials or even us. I'm sure they will find a way to stop our raiders from jumping past their shields and then we are done for. They are much more aggressive as well and I am afraid they will wipe us all out because of the actions of a few idiots." The eight crossed her arms.

"We went along with the consensus to carry out the attack. We are as guilty as Cavil in my opinion." The three shook her head. "No we aren't. We objected to the attack from the start just like Daniel did. But after Cavil destroyed that entire line, we buckled and just caved in. We should have kept fighting. He couldn't kill us all could he?"

The six just bit her lip thinking. "Maybe he couldn't destroy us all but he could do a lot of damage maybe even box us all. We have let him have too much power which we need to correct immediately. I just don't know how to go about fixing this mess." All three grew silent as a pair of centurions clanged down the hallway. The three, D'Anna Biers, watched after them silently. After they were out of sight she said. "I think I have an idea but I need to do a little research first. We'll link up again at another point eight in six hours." The other two conspirators nodded and parted ways.

 **Back aboard the UEC Starbase**

 **Janus' lab**

"Well, they are all five definitely Cylons. But like Chief Tyrol, they are more advance and have blocked memories. I can unblock them to allow you to know who you truly are." Janus explained to the five Cylons. While they were discussing it, he turned to Lt. Agathon. "You my dear, seem to be unique as well. According to all of our scans and some other information we were able to gather, none of the human form Cylons should be able to reproduce sexually. But you did with a human. Would you mind if I ran some scans you to see why this may be?"

Sharon looked a bit nervous. "I guess not but you might want to bring Karl over and run some on him as well. It may be a combination of both of our genetics that allowed me to become pregnant." Janus smiled. "That is a wonderful and insightful suggestion." Admiral Adama nodded in his direction and Admiral O'Neill contacted the coms officer. After a few words from Adama to the _Galactica_ , Karl was shortly on his way to the starbase. By the time he arrived, the five had made their decision.

Colonel Tigh looked his old friend in the eye. "Bill, I don't know what to say except that we all agree that we want our memories unblocked. I for one need to know if my life has been a lie or there is something else greater meant for me. If it turns out any of us is some type of sleeper agent and just haven't been activated, you can lock us up and throw away the key for all I care. I love you like a brother and would never want to be responsible for hurting any of you." All four of the others nodded their agreement and Janus got down to business.

Less than an hour later, all five of the "Final Five" were sitting in the lab, several with tears running down their faces. "That dirty bastard!" Colonel Tigh said. "He flat out lied to us to get the resurrection technology then he tried to wipe all knowledge of us from the minds of all the Cylons. I'll kill him with my bare hands when I get ahold of him!"

Ellen Tigh was crying as well but she was remembering Daniel, the number seven model that Cavil wiped out. "Pour Daniel. He was so artistic and gentle. I can't believe he's gone." Tyrol was fuming as well.

"Admiral, now that you know who we truly are, permission to get to work on those ships so we can kick some major Cylon ass. They lied and deceived us when we helped them. We didn't help them so they could turn around and wipe out humanity, we helped them to protect humanity. I want some payback." All of the others voiced their support and agreement as well.

Ellen looked at Admiral Adama. "Bill, I am so sorry about anything I may have done during my brief, "amnesia". But I think I have a possible solution or at least something that will help overall." Both O'Neill and Adama looked at each other before Admiral O'Neill spoke up. "And what might that be Mrs. Tigh?" Ellen looked at him coolly. "I know you've helped us greatly Admiral, but this is our mistake and we need to fix it on or own."

Admiral Adama stepped forward and put his hand on her arm. "Ellen, I appreciate what you're trying to do but we need their help. We can't do it without them. They have vastly superior technology and a lot more people than we do. Before the attacks it might have been possible to handle it on our own but not right now. Yes, we could try to settle down somewhere and rebuild but you know as well as I do that the other Cylons will catch up to us before we are ready. With the help of the UEC, we can do it now."

When she looked her husband in the eye, she could see he agreed with his old friend. "Ok Bill, I can see the logic and wisdom of accepting their help. I just think we need to be the ones doing most of the work as again, this is our frak up."

Admiral O'Neill was satisfied, with Moros' reassurance, that he could let the Final Five return to the fleet if they wanted or in Chief Tyrol's place, begin designing the new ships the Colonials would need to take back their worlds. Baltar also returned to the starbase to help with the designs.

In the starbase conference room, Ellen Tigh was going over her plan to weaken the Cylon forces. "I can remember the argument between the models like it was just a few minutes ago. The ones were the most adamant about wiping out humanity. The threes, sixes, eights, and about half the twos were against it. Somehow Cavil figured a way to override the five of us and block the memories. I assume he used a similar method to convince the dissenters to go ahead with the attack. I believe that if I can get aboard one of their resurrection hubs, I can reinitiate the dissent and fracture the Cylon forces."

O'Neill was for just wiping them all out. "Admiral, they are our children. I know we couldn't stop you if you are truly set on just wiping them out. I would ask you to reconsider and let me try to save some of them. If you need proof that all of them are not bad, all you need do is look at Lt. Agathon. You accepted her and now you have accepted us. So please Admiral, give me a chance."

O'Neill thought for a moment. "Ok, I can have one of our stealth cruisers get you in range of one of the basestars and beam you aboard." Ellen shook her head. "That won't work Admiral. If I just appeared on one of their basestars, Cavil would know something was up. The only way to make it plausible is for me to die and resurrect on one of the resurrection hubs or ships."

Colonel Tigh shook his head hard. "No! It's too dangerous, I can't let you risk this. I lost you twice and I won't lose you again." The old Ellen that the memory block had created, wouldn't have cared one bit what Colonel Tigh thought or wanted. The Ellen that she was before making contact with the Cylons was the same Ellen that lovingly cupped her husband's face. "My dear Saul, you won't lose me ever again. I do this for the good of our people. You know it has to be this way. You have my word, I will return to you and will never forget who we are ever again."

Moros looked toward her with a twinkle in his eye. "That is something I can help with Milady. With our technology, we can ensure that Cavil can never block your memory ever again. Also, with our technology, we can ensure that he cannot destroy you the way he did the Daniel you spoke of."

Preparations were set in place and Ellen Tigh left with her husband on a stealth cruiser in route to the closest resurrection ship they could detect. As the cruiser was traveling through hyperspace near the system the 7th fleet had been attacked in, it relayed its sensor data back to Admiral O'Neill.

Though Chief Tyrol and Dr. Baltar (with Caprica Six's) input were working closely with Janus, Moros, Narim, and the other UEC scientists on designing and building new ships for the Colonial Fleet, Admiral Adama had insisted on the _Galactica_ being the flagship of the assault.

Throngs of engineers were pouring in, over, and through the old girl replacing power conduits, adding new weapons, shields, computers (not to Adama's liking), and power systems capable of handling the new upgrades. She wouldn't get the newest or best technology the UEC had but she would get equivalent to what the Asgard used when they first made contact with Captain O'Neill after the battle with Apophis. The only difference would be that all of this technology would be powered by elements the Colonials could make themselves.

The tylium reactors the Colonials used were reverse engineered from technology used by the Furlings. The Furlings were known for (by their old Allies) using dark matter and liquid naquadah to power their technology. Once Janus saw the reactors, he was ecstatic as he hadn't seen Furling technology for thousands of years. It didn't take Chief Tyrol or Dr. Baltar long to learn the equations they needed to vastly increase the efficiency of tylium processing thus increasing their power output by nearly one hundred fold.

The _Galactica_ now had the same shield configuration (just not as powerful) the UEC ships were changing too. She also had four spinal mounted rail guns, two spinal mounted ion cannon, hundreds of pulse phaser turrets for fighter/missile screen, upgraded missile tubes, crystal based computers equivalent to the ones Anubis designed, and dual mounted flight pods like the _Mercury_ class battlestar. She would also have a new _Viper_ designated the _Viper MK VIII._

The _MKVIII_ looked a lot like the _MKVII_ but used the increased power from the new tylium to power a small shield generator, twin pulse phaser cannon mounted down either side of the nose, and the micro torpedo tubes used on the Federation runabouts. The extra power also allowed the use of a small jump drive like the _Blackbird_. It wouldn't give the fighter the range of a _Raptor_ but it will give it the ability to jump in and out of battle if its shields became depleted.

Two other ships the Colonial team came up with were basically a redesigned warstar and a gunstar. The warstar wouldn't be built just yet as the need for it wouldn't come until they went to retake the highly fortified colony worlds. With the gunstar, the Asgard beaming technology on the shipyard and on the _Enterprise_ could build up to six a day. So for three days both shipyards churned out a total of thirty-six gunstars.

The gunstars were little powerhouses. They were larger than a _Sovereign_ or _Magellan_ class but much smaller than a full sized battlestar. With the upgraded refining process for the tylium, they could generate four times the power of the original _Columbia_ class battlestars like the _Galactica_. They kept their original KEW's but the same refining process allowed them to fire faster and with much more power. Shields, pulse phasers, and upgraded missile tubes were also added to each gunstar.

While the Colonials were learning how to handle the new ships, Admiral O'Neill was sending cloaked _Saber III's_ and _Defiant III's_ into the void between galaxies to destroy anything the Cylons sent past the edge of the Sagittarius Dwarf galaxy. The Cylons had the computer power to calculate a jump to the Milky Way, they just didn't suspect the fleet had gone that far as they knew the Colonial computers were far inferior to theirs. It never crossed any of the humanoid Cylons minds that the UEC would be able to calculate coordinates that the Colonial computers could interpret.

While the shipyard and _Enterprise_ were busy building the gunstars for the Colonials, a fleet at a time would rotate back to the closest UEC shipyard to be refit to the triple layered shield configuration. Each layer was powered by its own power source and shield generator grid to avoid losing them all at once if just one went down. These new shields would turn the already mighty UEC fleet into an almost unstoppable goliath. Admiral O'Neill only wished his friend Thor could be here to see them in action. But Thor was still in the Federation reality with Admiral Carter and a UEC fleet to repay a blood debt owed to the Federation.

 **Twenty-five Light years into**

 **The Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy**

 **UEC** _ **Nightstalker**_

"I know you don't want to do this Saul. But I promise I will be back and you won't lose me ever again. No power in the universe can keep us apart for long My Love. Give me the shot and I will go to sleep painlessly and resurrect on the resurrection ship. It's less than five light years from us so it won't take long. I love you and will signal the moment I have accomplished the mission. The _Nightstalker_ will have made its way to the ship by then and can beam me out." With that Ellen Tigh kissed her husband like she hadn't down in many years. She silently cursed Cavil for messing her memories up and almost costing her marriage.

Colonel Tigh steeled himself and pushed the plunger on the needle that was already attached to an IV in his wife's arm. A tear rolled down his cheek as Ellen closed her eyes and slipped into a deep coma before the drug worked its hideous destruction inside her body and her heart stopped.

Ellen Tigh sat up gasping for air inside the resurrection ship as planned. _"God I hate that feeling when I first come awake after I resurrect. I had forgotten how miserable it feels."_ She thought to herself as she sat up coughing. A model six was on duty in the chamber. Ellen looked at her and smiled. "I'm glad it was you here and not Cavil. We need to talk." The six just stared at her before Ellen rose up out of the resurrection tank. "Don't just stand there gaping, bring your mother some clothes!" Ellen ordered. The six snapped out of her astonishment and did as ordered.

"I'm sorry Mother. I didn't realize you actually existed. Cavil told us you were myths and didn't really exist. I'm so sorry." Ellen slipped on the simple gown that six gave her and hugged her daughter close to her. "It's alright my dear. Cavil has a lot to answer for and we will make sure that he does. Gather the models you trust as discreetly as possible. We don't need everyone, just a few to get started." The six dipped her head respectfully before hurrying out the door. "Yes Mother."

Two hours later, a heavy raider flown by an eight with a six, three, and a two as passengers left the hanger and jumped away from the hub. The second it was clear of the ship, Ellen triggered a micro subspace burst and was beamed out by the _Nightstalker_. Once she was safely on the ship, the _Nightstalker_ increased to full impulse until it was well clear of the patrolling basestars then she jumped into warp. The rebellion against Cavil had begun and it would be a devastating blow to the Cylon attempt to exterminate all of humanity.

Over the next week, the threes, sixes, eights, and most of the twos began slowly congregating aboard certain ships. The twos that were with the little rebellion carried out their instructions from Ellen and removed the logic inhibitor that Cavil had installed on all of the Centurions, Raiders, and Heavy Raiders. They had been the original ones to agree to stop the war against the humans for the ability to resurrect. They knew Cavil had betrayed them but with the inhibitors in place, there was nothing they could do. Several Centurions wanted to kill every single model one they came across but they also followed the instructions from Ellen to wait until the signal came to attack.

Ellen had been upfront ant clear that some of them would probably die and not be able to resurrect as the UEC would be jamming to keep the ones, fours, and fives from resurrecting. They accepted that fact and were ready to do their part anyway. Ellen had also explained that the UEC had the technology to allow the humanoid Cylons to reproduce sexually and also allow the Centurions, Raiders, and Heavy Raiders to transfer into a fully organic body if they wished to do so.

 **Reinforced Basestar Fleet**

 **Same System the 7** **th** **Fleet**

 **Was attacked**

Cavil was starting to realize he was seeing fewer and fewer threes, sixes, eights, and twos. The Centurions also made him nervous for some reason he just couldn't put his finger on. Then a large fleet of gunstars, with the battlestar _Galactica_ at its center, suddenly appeared on his DRADIS. Before he could utter a word, he knew why the Centurions were making him nervous when every single one of them, standing in or near the control room, deployed their weapon and shot him full of holes.

All across the Cylon fleet the same scene played itself out, taking out the ones, fours, fives, and lackey twos that didn't join the rebellion. Less than a dozen basestars avoided being completely taken over in the coup. The ones that did avoid the coup launched missiles and raiders against the rebel basestars. That's when the UEC ships decloaked and shot down every missile and raider targeted on a "friendly" basestar. They also destroyed the attacking basestars FTL drives with precision shots from their lateral phaser arrays. The rebel basestars didn't return fire or launch raiders, they simply jumped away from the system and into the void as far as they could quickly calculate. The UEC ships reengaged their cloaks and moved out of the slaughter that was coming. It was time to see what the Colonials could do with their new ships.

 **CIC of the** _ **Galactica**_

"Action stations, action stations. Set condition one throughout the ship. This is not a drill. Launch all _Vipers_ and combat _Raptors_. Target the outer basestars with the railguns, two per ship. Target the center basestar with the ion cannons, fire when ready."

The big railguns hummed with power as the two ton slugs sped down each magnetized barrel. _Galactica_ actually vibrated slightly as each railgun fired out the heavy tungsten slugs at one quarter the speed of light. All four slugs slammed into their target and both basestars on either side of the broken formation, imploded around the impact points and began to break apart. Explosions began traveling out along the outstretched arms from the inside as they shattered. The basestar in the center met a bit different but no less violent death.

The two ion cannons unleashed a large glowing slug of excited ions. Even before they made contact with the hull of the targeted basestar they began to distort the arms of the ship and melt the hull from the intense heat they were giving off. Colonel Tigh was in total amazement. "Holy frak! Even as far back as I can remember, I have never seen anything like that much less think I would ever serve on a ship like this. If we would have had just the modifications we have now, the attack would have been an entirely different story!"

Adama just chuckled. "I have to agree with you Saul, hold back and let the new _MKVIII's_ and gunstars take the rest." Lt. Dualla relayed the order out to the _Viper_ pilots and the gunstars. This order made Starbuck extremely happy. _"WOOHOO roger that Galactica! You heard her Primus, break and attack!"_ Other squadron leaders were also issuing orders for their squadrons to break and attack as well.

 _Viper_ after _Viper_ closed on the basestars simply bypassing the raiders that came out to meet them. Shields flared as the raiders cannon fire struck them but none were penetrated. As the raiders turned to re-engage with missiles, the gunstars unleashed a hailstorm of pulse cannon fire. Raiders simply vaporized under the volume of fire that the gunstars were able to unleash. Out of the nine remaining basestars, _Galactica_ destroyed three and the four squadrons of _Viper MKVII's_ destroyed one each, leaving two for the gunstars. Without their FTL drives, the two basestars were sitting ducks.

Eight gunstars surged forward targeting four each to a basestar. Each gunstar had four spinal mounted heavy KEW's and the eight unleashed all four at the two remaining basestars. Sixteen fast moving KEW rounds slammed into the arms and central spine of the Cylon ships as they tried to escape on sublight engines alone. They didn't stand a chance….

This had been the most one sided battle the Colonials had ever experienced. Even in the first Cylon war, they barely held their own. If two battlestars could catch one basestar alone, it was a complete slaughter of the basestar for the battlestars. That was an event that rarely ever happened though. It was an overwhelming victory and a much needed boost in morale for the Colonial forces. After the battle, the UEC ships decloaked and heavy construction ships dropped out of hyperspace and began building defenses and another starbase as a beachhead for the Colonial forces.

The UEC could have most likely taken the Cylons out completely in a matter of days. But Admiral O'Neill knew the importance of letting the Colonials do most of the heavy lifting, as it were, to help them regain their confidence. To this end, he sent stealth cruisers to the Cyrannus System as he knew that having accurate intelligence about what they would have to face was essential. The _Nightstalker_ was the first one out and it relayed sensor readings and coordinates where the resurrection ship and its guarding basestars had jumped to.

After a day of celebrating and one of good rest, Admiral Adama dispatched the gunstar fleet under the command of Commander Adama. Their target was the resurrection ship and its fifteen guarding basestars. Admiral O'Neill dispatched a small escort of five _Saber III's_ to provide jamming support and for back-up if needed. He also had the 5th Fleet on stand-by ready to jump in as well if the raid didn't go well for the Colonials.

Chief Tyrol had used his previous experience with building the _Blackbird_ and the upgraded production facilities aboard the _Galactica,_ to create a squadron of the _Blackbird MKII._ Before the gunstar fleet jumped in, the squadron of _Blackbird's_ with added hard points, jumped in to destroy the FTL drives on as many of the basestar as they could. Priority of course was the resurrection ship and each basestar stranded would just be an added bonus.

With the upgraded targeting systems, the squadron was able to destroy the FTL drives of the resurrection ship and twelve of the fifteen basestars. Three of the basestars were far enough from the center, they were able to jump away before the missiles of the _Blackbird_ squadron reached them. Raiders began launching from the damaged basestars and resurrection ship. The _Blackbirds_ didn't stick around to see what would happen if the raiders found them.

As the _Blackbirds_ jumped out, the gunstars jumped in. The battle lasted a little bit longer than the first attack led by the _Galactica_ but only because the gunstars had to do more chasing as the raiders broke and ran trying to avoid the withering fire from the pulse cannons. The basestars that couldn't jump out were also running in all directions as fast as their sublight engines would push them.

Within thirty minutes of the gunstars jumping in, the battle was over. The twelve basestars, the resurrection ship, and ninety-five percent of all the raiders that were launched were all destroyed with the loss of only two _Vipers_. The pilots weren't able to jump out as their destruction came from a fluke chance of raiders jumping into the same place as they occupied. The _Vipers_ just weren't large enough for a triple layer shield to protect them the way they did the gunstars or the UEC ships.

Lee Adama was totally ecstatic when he contacted his father via the new subspace communications the UEC had gifted to them. "Lee, how did it go? From the look on your face I would assume you succeeded." Lee could barely contain himself. "Yes Admiral, the attack was virtually flawless. We only lost two _Vipers_ from fluke accidents. An attack wing of raiders tried to jump behind the lead squadron to catch them from behind and jumped directly into the lead _Vipers_ from the second wave."

Admiral Adama nodded in understanding. "No death is ever acceptable but to lose just two is almost a miracle. How did the gunstars handle without the support of the _Galactica_?" Lee's smile faded a little at the thought of losing two pilots he knew personally. "They shredded anything that they came within range of. Raiders, basestars, and the resurrection ship are now floating debris. Only three basestars were able to jump away before the _MKII Blackbirds_ could take out their FTL."

A habitable system was located near the system where the resurrection ship was destroyed. Another build-up of defenses and another starbase was begun in that system and a reason why the resurrection ship was holding close to it. A large amount of tylium ore was discovered in the asteroid belt of that system. There were also extensive ruins on the planet as well. Admiral O'Neill dispatched a freshly repaired and fully staffed _Magellan_ with an archeological team to go through the ruins and help the Colonials understand their past.

The instant Colonel Tigh saw the coordinates where the planet was found, he didn't need an archeologist to tell him who had lived there, he knew. It was still radioactive enough to be deadly to humans but along with the _Magellan_ , an Asgard _Daniel Jackson_ class science vessel arrived to clean up the radiation.

The planet was Earth, the Earth the 13th tribe had left Kobol for more than three thousand years ago. It was the same planet that Colonel Tigh and the rest of the Final Five fled from before finding the mechanical Cylons. Once President Roslin was informed of what the fleet had found, she was stunned beyond belief. The Quorum of Twelve were also stunned and wanted to come see for themselves. Admiral Adama managed to postpone that visit but was unable to persuade President Roslin from coming. Not that he was really disappointed in that failure, he was secretly happy to see her again. He was just worried for her safety. So to ease his anxiety, Admiral O'Neill sent the 5th Fleet and the reconstituted 7th Fleet to reinforce the system.

The system was secure and more shipyards were being built. Once the shipyards were finished, the build up to retake the lost colony worlds of the Twelve Tribes would begin. With the upgraded computer systems, a jump to the Cyrannus System was possible straight from this "Earth". Admiral Adama didn't want to take any chances so he was having four new warstars constructed. The only problem he had was he didn't have enough people left in his fleet to man more ships much less warstars. He was adamant that the UEC not provide bodies to fill slots as the previous victories had convinced him that his people needed to do this on their own. The UEC had given them the boost that was needed to begin their offensive but he wanted to finish it with his people.

He had no problem accepting the reconnaissance the stealth cruisers were providing though as the UEC hadn't gifted the Colonial Fleet with cloaking devices. A week into the build-up, a signal came in on specific subspace frequency that might be the answer to the manpower dilemma. Adama just wasn't sure how the remainder of his fleet would take the solution but he now had an option he hadn't considered before. Only time would tell….

 **Ok boys and girls. Here is chapter 2 of the sequel. I hope everyone enjoys and please be sure to leave a review whether you like it or not. I know there may be some grammatical mistakes and such but I never claimed to be an English major. Now for what some of you will consider bad news. I am not sure when I will get to chapter 3 as I simply have to write another story. I watched episode 3 of season 6 of the Walking Dead and it truly pissed me off. Now I feel obligated to write a fanfic on the Walking Dead but to do it from a tactical point of view that I believe should have been done in the actual show. I get it's following a Comic Book but come on, really? They have made so many mistakes that should not have been made with a Deputy Sheriff that was also a Sergeant leading them. Most Law Enforcement get a lot of the same training we do in the Military so I have to correct some of the mistakes in my opinion. So it will not be canon but how many fanfics truly are?**


	3. Chapter 3

I know it's been a long time since I have posted on any of my stories. They are not abondaned, I have just been really busy in real life and have a minor case of writer's block. I have been working on them as life allows and will really try to post updates to all of them soon. Thanks for reading and for being patient with me. 


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